


Darts In The Dark

by Kefliboo



Category: Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, this is literally just 'what if leon and claire kissed in the cable car' ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23357791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kefliboo/pseuds/Kefliboo
Summary: A trip to the N.E.S.T. makes an unexpected turn
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Claire Redfield
Comments: 26
Kudos: 151





	Darts In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> What's this??? A new fic??? From ME??????? Who'da thunk! 
> 
> I actually started this piece last May and never got around to finishing it bc writing has been making my head swim for the past few months, but since im currently stuck in lockdown and all my classes have been suspended for at least three weeks, it felt like the right time to sit down and force myself to finish _something _at the very least__  
>  _  
>  _Anyway, this oneshot literally just boils down to "what if ada found the virus sample, fucked off, and leon ended up running into claire in the sewers instead?" so don't get you're hopes up for any super riveting content. this is dumb and sappy and honestly im not really that proud of it but it's content, right? anyway, I hope y'all enjoy_  
> _

The dull light of the cable car only served to make the journey to the N.E.S.T more nerve wracking than it already was. 

Leon had to bite his lip to stop himself from shivering. It was hardly freezing down here - the air was strangely temperate, which might have surprised Leon were he not in the midst of fighting for his life - but the cold of the cable car’s metal floor was seeping through his uniform from where he was seated. Beside him, Sherry was curled up on a bench, huddled into the folds of Claire’s jacket. Even with her face obscured, Leon could still picture her infected eye in his mind, a blighted mess of mottled veins and discolored skin. 

It made his stomach churn, the thought of her being forced to endure a punishment of her parent’s creation. She was just a _kid,_ for crying out loud. 

The antivirus was located in the N.E.S.T, Annette had told them, but Leon still found himself hesitant to believe her. She was the one who’d engineered the virus in the first place - not to mention she’d _abandoned_ her daughter in the midst of a zombie outbreak. How was Leon supposed to know they weren’t walking into some kind of trap? 

Sherry suddenly gasped in pain and began writhing where she lay, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the hem of Claire’s jacket. Leon tried not to grimace at the sight. He had no idea how much pain she might have been in, and it tore him apart that he could do little more than hold her hand and try to reassure her that everything would be okay. 

“Hey, just hang in there alright?” Leon said quietly, clasping one of her tiny hands between both of his. “We’re almost there.”

His mind began to drift as Sherry started to settle again. What had happened to Ada, and why had she left him in the sewers to fend for himself? Was she really a mercenary, like Annette had claimed? 

And if she was, why the hell had he let himself believe she was an agent?

“Are you really a police officer?” Sherry said out of the blue, startling Leon. Her voice was quiet and hoarse, but it was the first time she’d properly acknowledged him all night. 

“Yeah,” he told her. “I am.” 

Sherry blinked, shyly peeking out from behind the collar of Claire’s jacket. “Did you know my dad?”

Leon’s brow furrowed in thought as he cast his mind back to the police station, wondering if any of the shambling zombies he’d shot down might have been Sherry’s father. 

“No, I’m afraid not,” he finally told her, “Was your dad a cop, too?” 

Sherry shook her head. “No. He worked at Umbrella with my mom.”

Leon frowned. He’d come across snippets of information about Umbrella’s involvement with the police force as the night had progressed - but how deep did it run, exactly? 

He leaned in closer to Sherry, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Can you believe today was only my first day on the job?” 

Sherry giggled. “Did you arrest any zombies?”

“Arrest them?” Leon couldn’t help but grin at the outlandish thought. “Man, I didn’t even think of that. You think I should try?”

“They bite if you get too close. But maybe if you’re fast enough, you could do it.” Sherry smiled, and Leon felt a little at ease once more. 

From the front of the cable car, Claire coughed, the sound reverberating off the metal walls. 

Leon whipped his head towards her without thinking, his lips pursing in concern. Claire hadn’t said anything since they’d entered the cable car, and considering the choice string of words she’d had for Annette only minutes prior, Leon couldn’t help but wonder if he should be worried. 

“Will you be okay here for a moment?” he quietly asked Sherry, and she nodded in affirmation. Carefully untangling his hand from Sherry's, Leon climbed to his feet and hurried down the cable car steps. 

Claire lifted her head as she heard Leon approaching, her tired eyes lighting up for a brief moment. Leon knew that he looked worse for wear at that moment, but even though Claire had managed to escape any life threatening injuries for the most part, she didn’t look much better. Aside from the dirt, blood, and ungodly amount of bruises marring her form, her expression was grim, her lips set into a straight line that was foreboding if nothing else. 

A sombre part of Leon wanted to reach out and hold her, to reassure her that everything would be alright. But given the fact that they’d only met a few hours prior, he didn’t think it was entirely appropriate - not to mention the fact they’d just spent the better part of an hour crawling through the sewers and were covered in God-knows-what. 

“Hey,” Leon greeted her, unable to think of anything more appropriate for the situation. 

“Hey.” Claire didn’t look at him as she returned the greeting; instead, her attention drifted back towards Sherry. “Is she okay?” 

Leon frowned as he followed Claire’s gaze. Sherry had settled for the time being, almost looking as though she’d fallen asleep with her hands curled into tiny fists at her side. But even under the cable car’s dim light, he could faintly see the infection around her eye, and he could have sworn it had gotten bigger. 

“For now,” he said with a grimace, feeling his chest tighten at the implication of a less than desirable fate for Sherry. “Let’s just hope we get there soon.” 

Claire just nodded, wetting her lips as she finally tore her gaze from Sherry.

“How are you holding up?” she asked Leon, anxiously rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms, as though she were trying to warm herself up. 

Leon chuckled. “I’m not,” he confessed, shaking his head in disbelief. 

Claire managed to smile. “You’re telling me. How’s your shoulder?” 

“Worse than it looks.” Leon unconsciously lifted his hand to touch the shoulder in question, picking at the fraying hem of his torn sleeve that was flecked with dried blood and dirt. “But I’m still alive, at least.” 

Claire just nodded, not daring to speak the condemning words that they both knew were inevitable; _For now_. 

Leon’s fingers anxiously danced atop the console as he looked out the window in front of him, staring straight into the face of the darkness they were descending into. His heart sank at the thought of what might be waiting for them in the N.E.S.T, the kind of monsters that might be lurking in the heart of Umbrella corp itself. He’d encountered enough grim visions of humanity for one night. What other kind of horrors might be awaiting them down there?

Claire’s face was hard to read as she followed Leon’s gaze. She seemed tense, which was understandable, given everything that had already transpired that night. But something else seemed to lay under the surface of her expression, like she was thinking very hard about something. 

“Are you okay?” Leon asked, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb Sherry. 

Claire was quiet, and for a moment, Leon thought that she might not have heard him. But then she kissed her teeth, toeing the ground with her dirt-encrusted boot as she turned to look at him again. 

“What are we going to do after we get out of here?” she said, her voice tinged with mild panic. 

Leon swallowed; he hadn’t thought that far ahead. His entire night had consisted of a constant loop of _fight, run, survive_ that he’d had no time to consider what might happen next. 

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I guess Sherry’s safety should be our priority, but-” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” 

Claire just shrugged. “That makes two of us, at least.” 

Leon paused. “You still need to find your brother, don’t you?”

Claire let out a sharp breath, but nodded again. “But I can’t exactly leave you and Sherry in good faith. How do I know you’ll be okay?” 

“We’ll be fine,” Leon tried to assure her, “I can take care of Sherry on my own.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “Leon, you’re _hurt_.” 

“It’s not that bad-”

“Not that bad?” Claire huffed, straightening where she stood and folding her arms across her chest. “You were _shot_.” 

Leon just pursed his lips, using his forefinger to trace patterns across the console. “You shouldn’t have to worry about me.”

“Well, I _am_ worried, okay? I just-” Claire grumbled something under her breath and shook her head in frustration, her attention flitting around the cable car. Her gaze shifted between Leon and Sherry and the pistol she still had strapped to her hip, before finally turning back to the endless pit they were still descending into. 

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and screwing her eyes shut, as though she were trying to shut out the world for a moment. 

“God, this is bullshit,” she muttered, barely loud enough for Leon to hear her. 

Leon went silent, unsure how to respond. She wasn’t wrong. This whole thing _was_ bullshit. Between Umbrella and the corrupt police precinct he’d almost ended up working for - and not to mention the actual _hordes of the undead_ they’d had to fight their way through all night - Leon wasn’t sure he would ever get another good night’s sleep in his life. He mentally berated himself for ever being excited about starting this new job. 

But Claire’s loss was infinitely greater than his own. With her brother still missing and no one else to turn to, her frustration seemed quantifiably justified. Leon wanted to help her - God, did he ever - but Chris’ whereabouts were just as much a mystery to him as they were to Claire, and there wasn’t much they could do while they were still stuck within the confines of a burning city. 

He didn't want to leave Claire alone. That was the last thing she deserved right now. 

But he didn’t want to hold her back from finding Chris, either. 

Leon reached out and placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“We’ll figure it out, okay?” he told her, forcing himself to take a steadying breath as he spoke. “But you still need to find your brother, and I don’t want to get in your way.” 

Claire snorted, shaking her head as she placed a hand atop his. “You’re the last thing in my way right now.” Her eyes flickered up to meet his just as the cable car passed under a light, and they glowed so blue and bright that for a second Leon thought he had gone blind. 

He swallowed as his hand began anxiously curling and uncurling itself into a fist of its own volition. His heart had begun racing, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Cold, undead hands had been grappling at him merely minutes prior, desperate to tear into his flesh, but apparently the intensity of Claire Redfield’s crystalline gaze was enough to send him into a nervous frenzy.

Claire took a step forward, eyes still locked onto Leon’s, and his breath caught in his throat. He had to fight back his instincts to stop himself from slamming her onto the floor like the zombies he’d been fighting off just moments prior. Her hand came up to rest on his forearm, and Leon felt like his skin might just burst into flames where she was touching him. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, could feel his heart hammering in his chest so hard that he felt like his ribs might break. 

If the anticipation hadn’t already killed him, the final blow was Claire grabbing him by the straps of his tactical vest and pulling him down into a kiss. 

Despite the jolt of pain that was now searing through his injured shoulder, Leon couldn’t move. Now was not the time for such a thing, this was _hardly_ the place, and yet as he slowly regained control of his body he found his hands slowly gravitating towards Claire’s hips, desperately pulling her closer to him. The dip of her waist seemed to fit perfectly in the curve of his palms, and if Leon had had any semblance of a coherent thought in that moment, he might have believed that fate were real. 

Claire hardly smelled a pretty picture - not that either of them did after their escapade through the sewers - but her lips were so soft, so sweet, so intoxicating, that when she caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged it took of his willpower not to moan in response. She was warm in his arms, a welcome reprieve from the lifeless, shambling zombies that had been lunging for his throat all night. 

Kissing Claire was like heaven, like this city was a curse and she was his only salvation. 

When she finally pulled away, cheeks flushed pink and struggling for breath, Leon was left at a loss for words. He felt dizzy, his head spinning with a whirlwind of thoughts, and he had to brace a hand against the console behind him to stop himself from falling flat on his ass. 

They just looked at one another for a moment, breathless and giddy and high on adrenaline, before Claire lifted a hand to cup his cheek. 

“I’m not leaving you,” she said under her breath, firmly shaking her head as though to reiterate her point. “I don’t know what we’re going to do once we get out of here, but-” she swallowed, eyes flickering closed momentarily as she panted, still struggling to catch her breath. “But I don’t want to do it alone.” 

Leon could only stare at her, hands still firmly planted on either side of her waist. He needed to say something, to assure her that she didn’t need to feel obligated to stay with him, but the words kept muddling themselves in his mind, lodging themselves in his throat. Instead, he snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer until their foreheads touched. 

“Okay,” was all he managed to say, unable to raise his voice any louder than a whisper. 

Claire smiled, smoothing her thumb across the rise of his cheek, and Leon felt the smallest ray of hope fill his chest. The situation they’d ended up in was far from ideal, but he found himself thanking his lucky stars that he’d wound up in it with her. Had he wound up down here completely alone -

His train of thought was interrupted by a robotic voice loudly announcing their arrival at the N.E.S.T, just as the cable car ground to a halt. 

The reality of the situation came crashing back on Leon, and as he looked down at Claire, the two of them nodded in mutual understanding. Sherry’s life was still in danger, and they had to get a move on if they wanted to find the antivirus in time to save her. 

A split second later they were thundering up the cable car steps, Claire scooping up a close-to-comatose Sherry into her arms as they went, and the three of them sped for the entrance to the N.E.S.T. 

Leon could only hope that they would make it out of there alive. 


End file.
